Cold Springs Campfire

This is a picture I took of the hills to the north of us. I went for a walk with A and I thought this scene looked absolutely beautiful. What a contrast from Alaska.

This is what the first picture looked like earlier this evening. This picture was taken by k. I would have taken it but my camera has a strict policy of not working in the evening...

This and the one above it were also taken on our walk. They are still building homes. In the newer phases we noticed that there are for sale signs and some homes that have not been sold. Another sign of the times.

Cold Springs Fire

Here are the clearest pictures we could get. These were taken just before sundown. We will post a night time shot if we can get one. I have no idea how close it is to us.

Good Bye...

I would not have posted this if not for a conversation that I had with my Mother-In-law. In the course of the conversation I realized that his music was a part of my life.



While we were at the Anime Convention next door at the Los Angeles Convention Center a choice was made to hold Michael Jackson's Memorial at the Staples Center. The street outside Staples was blocked off and so were different areas in front of Staples.

Fans waited in line in the hot sun to sign the huge card that was put up. Michael's music was played. Everyone mourned together.

If I could put together a soundtrack of my life a lot of Michaels songs would be on it. It is hard to believe that he is gone. Good Bye and R.I.P Michael. You are a one of a kind. Thanks for the wonderful music.

Views of Downtown Los Angeles

These are the views of downtown that we had while we walked to the Anime Expo. The first one on the left was taken from the Macy's parking garage.

When you are standing at the bottom of a big building you feel so small.

Another group of buildings from our walk. I enjoy the fact that no one building looks like another.

I added this picture because I liked the message.
Yes I know ...Its a parking garage but sometimes you can be inspired by a message in the oddest of places. :) Well.. It inspired me for 10 minutes... And then I left the parking garage and promptly got lost!!!!

This is a random alley. This is one of many that A and I drove by. Getting lost one time is understandable in a big city like Los Angeles. I got lost on the way to Downtown and on the way back. Four days of that gets on your nerves. Well at least I was consistant! I should have known that was how the trip would go when I got lost on the way to my In-Laws home. A and I ended up in El Segundo. Lovely town but not where I needed to be.

Trust me when I tell you that A and I have seen the parts of Los Angeles and the surrounding areas that they don't have on any tourist map that I know of.

More Anime Expo Pictures

These are just some of the pictures that I took while at the Anime Convention. This by far was the best pose of the day. What was so awesome about the convention was that everyone that dressed up would pose for you if you asked them to. I thanked everyone that posed while I took their picture. Being my first comvention I quickly learned that anything goes. Not only where people dressed as anime characters they also had some people that dressed as non anime characters. I took this picture because we are a family of Star Wars fanatics. We also have some Trekies thrown in for good measure.

I took this picture on the last day of the convention. Everytime I tried to take a picture of Yoshi he would turn away from me. So I gave up and just took a profile picture.

Anime Expo 2009

This is where the Anime Expo for 2009 was held. This is the Los Angeles Convention Center. It is behind the Staples Center. A and I spent 4 very warm and sunny days in downtown Los Angeles.

This is a picture I took of a poster of the Anime movie Totoro. This is one of our favorites.

This was my first Anime convention. It was a lot of fun. Lots of people dressed up as random Anime characters. I took lots of pictures and will show them over the next day or two. I want to take a moment to say a special Thank You to Mark and Andrea and Tallulah Mae for making our stay so enjoyable. Your home is Gorgeous!!!